Kattar wins main event in MMA action in Salem

SALEM - Calvin Kattar entered the cage to the theme of "Rocky" and then fought an epic battle with Gabriel Baino before being declared the winner by unanimous decision in the thrilling main event of Combat Zone MMA on Friday night in the packed Sports Club at Rockingham Park.

Kattar, who hails from across the border in Methuen, Mass., had the strong backing of the partisan hometown crowd as he bloodied Baino from the opening round and ruined the Brazilian fighter's previously unblemished record.

Baino, who appeared to be fighting blindly in the later rounds after Kattar opened deep, gushing cuts over both eyes, dropped to 5-1 while Kattar fought his way out of a guillotine choke hold at the end of the first round and a kimora submission attempt in the third to improve to 14-2.

Baino looked gassed and outclassed in round 2, but he dug down deeply and willed his way back to inflict damage of his own and opened a cut over Kattar's left eye.

To veteran observers, this appeared to be Kattar's toughest pro fight.

In the co-main event between two first time professionals, Lakes Region Valley Tudo representative Mike Burke dominated John Healey (0-1) from Wakefield, with a succession of strikes, dropped him to the ground, and continued to batter and bloody him until the referee stopped the fight 1:12 into the first round.

With the TKO, Burke stands at 1-0 after an impressive 5-1 amateur record.

In the first amateur fight of the night, Team Triumph of Nashua representative Jay Perrin improved to 3-1 by submitting Matt Denning of CMBJJ with an arm bar in 2:28 of round 2. Denning, who battled his opponent evenly in the first round at 140 pounds, dropped his second straight match to fall to 1-2.

The second fight featured a pair with spotless records and brought a name with MMA star power into the cage when Kirk Florian, the younger brother of UFC luminary Kenny Florian, matched skills with Dominic Cofone for the full three rounds.

Florian's better stand-up game proved the difference as he was declared the winner by split decision and upped his record to 3-0 while Cafone is now 3-1.

Next up, Scott Gorgone and Dave Sousa got the crowd screaming and cheering from the opening bell with an aggressive, intense and evenly waged bloody battle featuring a flurry of powerful strikes and a masterful ground game from both tough and courageous fighters for the first two rounds.

Gorgone gained the advantage in the final round with his ground game and was declared the winner by unanimous decision to remain undefeated at 3-0-0, while Sousa dropped to 1-2 while being a better fighter than his record shows.

Despite giving his opponent a 17-year advantage, 38-year-old Wayne Ahlquist (2-5) prevailed over Tollison Lewis (3-7) in the next match at 155 pounds by controlling the pace and being more aggressive.

Then Dan Connaughton (1-0) needed only 1:07 of the first round to win his amateur debut when he submitted local favorite Kristian Lombardi of Team Fury (0-1) by an arm bar in their fight at 185 pounds.